“Everybody wants to escape. Everybody wants to [mentally] be in another place,” said writer Paskael Tyiska.

Tyiska has joined with others, including Bakersfield College alumni Randeep Grewal, and they are about to release their first graphic novel, “The Unforgivable Volume 1: Devilution” in March 2010. The project began over three years ago when Tyiska was inspired to write a story about the conflicts of heaven, hell, science and spirituality during a raging Bakersfield summer. The story will span from the absolute beginnings of the conflict to its absolute end.

Unable to find artists to illustrate his story in Bakersfield, Tyiska turned to the Internet to find the talent he needed. The search was fruitful, as Tyiska has formed a working relationship with Malaysian artist Alan Tham and Argentinean colorist Ivanna Mataila. Although they have never physically met, Tyiska believes they have formed an incredible working relationship.

“They’re promoting for us in other countries, and we’re promoting here so it’s like a global collaboration,” Tyiska said, adding that they also have promotional artwork done in Europe for the project.

After going to several comic book conventions throughout the nation to promote their project, Grewal and Tyiska were eventually discovered by independent comic publisher Committed Comics in 2009. The process of getting published was not easy. In their search for someone to release their work, Tyiska and Grewal were told that creators don’t come from Bakersfield. At this point, Tyiska decided to place the weight on his shoulders and pressed on toward his goal.

Tyiska believes the world of comic books is about to enter a renaissance, and he wishes to be at the forefront. “We’re seeing the fading of the modern age of comics,” Tyiska said. “To me, it seems like it’s going into a new age of comics. Most of the number one movies of the past few years have come from comics books. Even novels such as the ‘Twilight’ series are crossing over into comic books now.”

Inspired by Stan Lee and encouraged by underground writer Benny Watson Jr., Tyiska has always been fascinated by the world of comics.

“I always had a fantastic imagination, even as a kid, and not really understanding how to direct that imagination and have an outlet when I got into comics, I was fascinated with how you can create an alternate reality,” said Tyiska as he reminisced about his past. “From then on I was always hooked. That effect never changed through my adult life. I’ve always had that fundamental love of comics.”

Grewal also found his inspiration at an early age through music, painting and drawing.

“The way I letter is more of an art form than placing fonts on a piece of art, so my inspiration could be a blood splatter from a movie or a lick that Hendrix plays,” said Grewal. “I didn’t realize until I got into the comic that everything I do is a form of art.”

“We’ve got something for everyone,” said Tyiska, describing “The Unforgivable,” as a combination of horror, science fiction and romance. “At any given time, we could be a horror comic with traces of a super hero comic with traces of a mystery comic. I think that’s the beauty of how we create. We want to diversify and combine all the styles of writing into one.”

The duo is focusing all of its attention onto its first project. “It’s special to me being that first one to get published,” said Tysika. “I put everything on hold and put full steam on this to make sure this is as successful as we can make it.”

They plan to tour comic book conventions throughout the states in 2010 to promote their project and connect with fans. Tyiska stated that the fans were of utmost importance to them.

“We’re a little bit different from the competition,” Grewal said. “We don’t hide how we got into the industry and how hard it is or how easy it could be getting your foot in the door. The difference between us and the other people is we’re welcoming people that are asking us questions. We welcome them and give them the advice others wouldn’t give to us.”

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